21 Jump Street (Tom Hanson)

Summer Patrol

June 1989
Mickey's POV

School just got out, and this is always an awkward time for Jump Street officers. We all have to merge back in with the Metro Police Department, and the first week or so after school is out for the summer, we are put on the jobs that no one wants. We get stationed in parks, become Meter Maids, and even sent up to Headquarters for boring paper jobs. We are treated like rookies until they can find a permanent place for us. Every year, I'm put to work on Vice for the summer.

This also was the first day since December where Booker didn't have to get me a hot morning drink to apologize for his sexist joke. I think it became a sort of his daily routine because he has yet to miss a day. Of course I wasn't going to remind him that the deadline was for 'till summer and I hope he doesn't remember.

I reported to Metro Police Department where I met my team. We were all in our uniforms, ready to take on our first shift. Captain Briody pulled us all aside and said that he was not expecting so many officers to report back for the summer, so Judy offered to go up to Headquarters and spend the next week over there until she got her permanent summer post. She left, and Briody decided to let me, Tom, and Doug patrol the park. Ioki and Booker were lucky enough to be Meter Maids for the time being.

Patrolling the park is one of the most boring posts ever. We all looked at each other with eye rolls and shuffled out to the cruiser. I called shot gun, and Doug took the wheel, which made Tom sit in the back. We were all wearing our summer uniforms of a light blue short sleeve shirt with the Metro PD logo on it and a badge on our chest. I don't like these as much as our black long sleeve uniforms, but the weather permitted that we wear these.

We arrived at the park and got out of the car and started walking around. Fuller hates the summertime because he is afraid that we might get recognized as cops when we return back to school in the fall. I eased my own anxiety by getting a pair of big sunglasses so no one can see my face that clearly. I've been rocking them ever since the weatherman started getting excited about the sun.

Patrolling the park is a joke. Almost nothing happens over here, and we usually end up goofing around most of the time. I was put on park duty last summer with Ioki and we played checkers the entire week. Tom, Doug, and I walked alongside each other, trying to find something to do.

"You guys pass your firearms qualifications test?" I asked. The test happens every year in June, and we need to pass in order to carry our guns. If we fail, we have to wait two weeks before we can retest.

"Best two out of three," Doug joked. "You?"

"Hit right between the eyes every time," I told them. "Tom?"

"Flying colors." He grinned softly. "I don't think any of us have failed it yet."

Doug was suspiciously silent so I decided to rat him out. "Doug did."

"Mick!" Doug snapped. "Shush!"

"What?" Tom laughed.

"Look, it was my first year and I was really nervous. Okay?" Doug stated.

"You've got a great shot now!" I exclaimed to make him feel better. "Not everyone is great at first."

"You were," he mumbled.

"That was different, I was raised by a redneck who made me grow up shooting his empty beer cans off the back porch railing," I stated, barely letting the guys get a taste of my lore.

"Your dad made you do that?" Doug's eyes widened.

I nodded. "Yeah."

The guys don't really know much about my family situation, and even though they're very close to me, they don't need to be trauma-dumped. The reason why my dad made me shoot the cans was to train me in case he got caught up with some methheads who would be after us. He told me for years that it was my job to protect us from the methheads that were going to kill us in the middle of the night.